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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25516570">gotta put up with the rain</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radioabsurd/pseuds/Radioabsurd'>Radioabsurd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>YOLO Was Created For Andrew Spencer [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV), Love Victor (TV 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abandonment, Andrew Spencer Has A Type, Andrew Spencer Loves Anime, Artist Mia Brooks, Asexual Character, Asexual Mia Brooks, Asexuality, Asexuality Spectrum, Atlanta, Awkward Flirting, Backstory, Bad Cooking, Bad Flirting, Baking, Biromantic Gina Porter, Bisexual Andrew Spencer, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexuality, Black Character(s), Boys in Chains, Boys in Skirts, Bullying, Career Change, Child Neglect, Coming Out, Control Issues, Cooking, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Family Issues, Father-Daughter Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Gender Issues, Gina Porter Needs A Hug, Heartache, High School, Homosexual Gina Porter, Insecurity, Jealousy, Knitting, Love Language, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Misunderstandings, Nicknames, Nonbinary Character, Not Beta Read, Oblivious Andrew Spencer, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Pansexual Character, Pansexual Mia Brooks, Parent Death, Parent-Child Relationship, Platonic Relationships, Play Fighting, Possessive Andrew Spencer, Privilege, Responsibility, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Worth Issues, Soulmates, Weight Issues, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000, blood disease, but not really</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:28:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,451</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25516570</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radioabsurd/pseuds/Radioabsurd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Love hurts, Andrew. Most times it’s a good pain, but sometimes it’s a bad pain. Just know, when you find the one, it’ll be because the good pain makes the bad pain worth it.”</p><p>He turned around, kissed Andrew on the head, and left.</p><p>Andrew was over the moon for two weeks and he completely forgot to ask his dad what “bad pain” was.</p><p>He figured it out all on his own when he met Mia.</p><p>Turns out, his dad was right.</p><p>It was worth it, just to see her smile at him and to see the way her brown eyes sparkled at him underneath the moonlight.</p><p>It has to be.</p><p>or: a small piece of andrew's life before meeting victor. </p><p>or, or: the shenanigans, heartaches, and childhood of andrew (+ mia)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Andrew Spencer &amp; Gina Porter, Andrew Spencer/Original Male Character, Mia Brooks &amp; Lake Meriwether, Mia Brooks/Andrew Spencer, Mia Brooks/Lake Meriwether</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>YOLO Was Created For Andrew Spencer [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848616</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. trigger warnings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>will be updating this constantly. </p><p>these will be for all chapters. these will be general, but chapters will name specifics. </p><p>feel free to say something in the comments if you think I missed something and feel free to skip this. </p><p>be safe and I hope you enjoy this !</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>- character death (told through another pov by stream of consciousness) </p><p>- panic attacks &amp; panicked thoughts (most, if not all, of these scenes are vague)</p><p>vague mentions of cops intermixed with a traumatic experience</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. trigger warnings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>andrew's beginning [part 1]</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>fair warning, highkey only watched clips on yt and most clips were the very two first episodes and the last episodes, not the middle. last episodes I watched were the end to the episode were andrew, felix, lake, and maya are in after school detention. got everything else as headcanon and looking stuff up on the internet.  </p>
<p>also, all mistakes are mine ! feel free to comment anything including if I dont remember a trigger warning for anything ! stay safe ! love yall ! make sure you stay up to date on recent news ! alright enjoy this !</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>He doesn’t remember life before Atlanta, not really. There are flashes sometimes, blurry views of flashing red and blue lights and the feeling of <i>panic panic panic</i> before he remembers where he is. Sometimes the sound of blaring sirens seems to ring in the air, makes his head dizzy when he tries to figure out what he’s hearing just so he might have the chance of getting it to <i>stop</i>. Not every flash he has of <i>Before</i> is like that, though. Sometimes he can smell the scent of sand and salt water in the air when he rides his bike down the street, peddling with all his might. Those scents are usually accompanied by the sound of laughter, the touch of soft fur of one of the prizes located in a stall.   </p>
<p>It’s only when he rides to Mia’s house that he remembers the taste of ice cream. He tells her once, when he’s on the verge of turning 7 and she’s done whining about how <i>“it’s so unfair, Dewey!”</i> because she wants to be 7 <i>now</i>, not after him. They had eaten a bunch of ice cream and when Andrew complained about his stomach hurting and got sent to Mia’s room to rest it off, Mia went with him. They’re laying down in her white and green bedsheets, Princess Tiana’s face staring up at her high ceiling between them when he turns over onto his side. Mia had already been facing him, and the slight sunlight from the uncovered window behind him seemed to shine on her.  </p>
<p>He remembers thinking she was a star before whispering, his own brown eyes locked onto her <i>pretty, pretty</i> ones, “You remind me of the best parts of <i>Before</i>.”   </p>
<p>Mia doesn’t say anything, but when he closes his eyes, he can feel her moving closer until he can smell the chocolate, strawberry, and Gummy Bears on her breathe. He doesn’t realize how much it relaxes him, something in the bottom of his spine loosening, until he’s waking up from a nap he didn’t mean to fall in.  </p>
<p>When he turns 7 the next day, the only people in his house are his parents, Mia, and her parents. There are small vanilla cupcakes on the counter, frosting edged with white and green <i>(when she smiled at him after he told her what he asked for, he felt like he would do anything to get that smile again)</i> and a pot of pasta on the stove. He feels so warm, Mia besides him, giggling and swinging her head back and forth to show off the sway of her new hairstyle that she got just for <i>him</i>.  </p>
<p>His mom is smiling and laughing, no pain clear in the creases of her face while she talks to Mrs. Brooks. His dad is staring down at a bunch of magazines with Mr. Brooks by his side. They’re seated at the dining room table when he thinks,  </p>
<p><i>This is the only thing I want for the rest of my life.</i>  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>
  <i>Red blue red blue lights, hurting his eyes, he wants his mommy he wants his mommy he wants-</i>
</p>
<p>They don’t talk about it and eventually he forgets.  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p><strike>He doesn’t forget. </strike> </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>Hs parents, and thus him, don it like armor after first grade ends and the summer starts. He had never considered how others would view him because, to him, the only people who mattered were Mia and their parents. That changes when Mia gets new neighbors. He doesn’t really notice them.  </p>
<p><i>(Later, he thinks his small heart ache could have been avoided if he simply <strong>noticed</strong>.)</i>  </p>
<p>But he doesn’t notice. He doesn’t notice the muddy footsteps that come from the grass on the left side of Mia’s house. He doesn’t notice how they seem bigger than Mia’s own feet <i>(he only knows because Mia tried to wear his shoes for two whole months, but after the first day he made sure to stuff socks in the shoes she had chosen so she wouldn’t get anymore blisters)</i>. He doesn’t notice until he’s walking through the front door with his own (<i>!!</i>) key and Mia isn’t there to greet him like she usually is, wide smile showcasing her two front teeth missing.   </p>
<p>He’s only slightly confused before he takes his shoes off and is about to put them in his own personal spot when he sees something that isn’t usually there. The shoes aren’t that much bigger than Mia’s, but they’re black and red while all her other shoes are bright colors, usually mixed with white. He doesn’t know how long he stands there, something in his chest tightening and making breathing hurt, before he notices Mr. Brooks standing there, kneeling in front of him and his brown eyes wide.  </p>
<p>The first thought that comes through his head is that Mr. Brooks kind of looks like Ray from Princess and The Frog.  </p>
<p>The second is <i>‘why am I not breathing?’</i>   </p>
<p>He has his first panic attack since <i>Before</i> in what he counts as his second home.  </p>
<p>~ </p>
<p>The only thing Andrew remembers other than the complicated feeling of wetness and dryness in his eyes, the shaky feeling in his knees, the painful drags of breath in his lungs, and the feeling of someone electrocuting his brain in his head is Mia beside him, hands on his arms, silent but there.  </p>
<p>Or well, that’s what he wants to remember.   </p>
<p>Anything other than the absence of her hurting more than any panic attack could.  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>The first girl he ever loves is Mia.  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>The first time he meets her is the first day of Kindergarten. He’s just turned five and it’s been one year since <i>Before</i>.   </p>
<p>He doesn’t really know the name of his school yet, but it’s somehow smaller than he expected. He doesn’t feel any different until him and his mom are at the door of his classroom and then all he can think is <i>leaving again leaving again why are they leaving again-</i> </p>
<p>His mom must know he’s panicking because suddenly her warm palm is on his shoulder and he can feel the tight feeling in his chest ease as soon as he leans back against her. He has no time to prepare himself, make himself more likeable than he actually is before his new teacher is at the door. Introductions seem to blur, and he remembers himself blurting out his name before being seated next to a brown skinned girl drawing. She doesn’t look up until the teacher is gone and when she does all he can think about is how pretty her brown eyes are.  She tells him her name is Mia Brooks and that he’s her new best friend. </p>
<p>She can’t say his full name and she slurs too much to say <i>Andrew</i>.   </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>Later, when they’re finally in high school, when the absence of her mom gets to her, when the seemingly endless rotation of girls and women hanging off her dad’s arm gets is just <i>too much</i>, she’ll slip through her backdoor and call him. He’ll take off from his date, say something about a family emergency (<i>from the look she gives him, he thinks she saw Mia’s name flashing on his screen before he could accept or turn the screen away from her</i>) and hurriedly walk-slash-jogs towards his house just to see Mia wrapped up in his sheets. Something about the way his light blue sheets look on her dark skin makes him feel protective, makes his heart heavy with the knowledge that he would do <i>anything</i> for her. </p>
<p>He doesn't know how they get there, but when he comes back to himself, he’s wrapped around her, her back up against his chest, safe in his arms. He thinks back to that day, his birthday party when his mom was still here, and Mia’s mom <strike>still wanted her</strike> was still here, and everything was okay because they were all together.  </p>
<p>He thinks, <i>this is the only thing I want for the rest of my life.</i> </p>
<p>Then he thinks, <i>what happened to Mia? </i> </p>
<p>Then he’s not thinking because Mia is turning around and kissing him on the forehead and saying-  </p>
<p>“I didn’t want to call you Drew like everyone else because I wanted to be irreplaceable to you. I wanted to be-”   </p>
<p>She cuts herself off, sharply biting into her lip. </p>
<p>She doesn’t have to say it because he can hear what she meant.  </p>
<p><i>She wanted to be special to someone. </i> </p>
<p>He kisses her back, just a short peck, but something seems to change, even when she turns back around and they fall asleep like that, with his arms wrapped around her and his light blue sheets protecting them from the world.  </p>
<p>*** </p>
<p>She’s the one and only person who’s allowed to call him Dewey. </p>
<p>***    </p>
<p>The first woman he ever loves is his mom.  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>He didn’t notice during the period of <i>Before</i>, but his dad is weird. He knows his dad loves him, can’t think of a world where his dad doesn’t but something doesn’t comprehend to him. He never does understand until-  </p>
<p><i>Something is wrong, something is wrong, wrong, wrong, there is no more beeping what is happening, w h a t is going on, people flood the room so quickly he feels like he’s drowning before his dad, his dad is here, he’s here moving him and picking him up and moving out the room, why, why, why are they moving, daddy what, what’s wrong, something is wrong, dad why are you crying, his dad is crying and crying and crying and then leaving, leaving him and then he’s sitting outside alone in the empty and dark hallway before everyone clears out and he doesn’t know what’s going on but he wants to cry and go back to weeks ago when he was with Mia, and now he’s crying and his dad is crying with him and he’s talking to him and this doesn’t make sense because a few minutes ago she was talking to him and laughing and he can’t breathe daddy please daddy daddy it hurts to breathe this doesn’t make sense she can’t be-</i>  </p>
<p>A part of his dad dies along with his mom in the hospital that night. He understands then. </p>
<p>*** </p>
<p>She usually looks magnificent <i>(He learned that word in one of the books he was reading, and he loved the taste of it on his tongue. It reminded him of his mother, ice cream and the way Mia’s eyes looked in the sun, in the dark, at him)</i> in white. His dad usually says something about contrasting, but they aren’t that far into English Language Arts yet.    </p>
<p>
  <i>(He only remembers in the dark when the only thing in his bedroom is him and his thoughts. He remembers the way his dad used to draw his mom, sketching careful and long lines onto white paper. He remembers asking his dad if he would use the brown crayon mixed with black and the way his dad stared at him before shaking his head.  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p>
  <i></i>
</p>
<p>“Your mother is Sepia coated art and no crayon will ever capture her the way she deserves.”   </p>
<p>
  <i>His dad’s voice was quiet, but his words were powerful. Andrew never asked again, not after his dad had him look up what “Sepia” even meant. He thinks that was a week before the incident. The incident that made everything before Atlanta simply Before.)</i>
</p>
<p>Her skin pressed against the white hospital sheets is wrong. Her in the hospital bed looks wrong. The steady beeping of the machine next to her, the one apparently tracking her heart, is wrong.  </p>
<p>
  <span class="u">Everything is wrong. </span>
</p>
<p>Andrew’s dad doesn’t really say anything, which isn’t unusual. He gets up from the chair next to his mom before patting Andrew’s head and leaving to get something for them. Andrew had been sitting at the bottom of the bed but when his mom motions him closer, he moves.  </p>
<p>When his dad comes back into the room, three water bottles, one bottle of red Powerade, and some crackers in hand, Andrew is back in his original spot, curled up into a ball.  </p>
<p>The rest of the night fades away but his mom’s words never do.  </p>
<p><i>“You love so hard, baby, and I’m so proud of you for that. Never forget to keep loving like that, okay? And soon, you’ll meet someone who loves you just as hard as you do, I just know it. They’re going to love you with their everything, Drew.” </i> </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>He never replied to what his mom said to him that night, but he thinks he should’ve.  </p>
<p>He thinks he would’ve said something like,  </p>
<p><i>“You already do that, Mommy.” </i> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The second woman he ever loves is Mia.  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>He doesn’t think about what his mom said to him a week before her death until someone calls him a simp in 8th grade after lunch. He doesn’t quite understand how it applies to him (<i>and Mia, because somehow everything comes back to her</i>), but he <i>knows</i> it’s an insult as much as <i>fatty mc fatty</i> and <i>Frankenstein</i> was. Mia’s in 8th grade too, but she’s in different periods than him (<i>ha, periods</i>) and he can only really see her in the hallways, at lunch, and at the end of the day.   </p>
<p>When he asks what “simp” means, the dude laughs at him and when he’s done explaining to him, he still doesn’t understand what that word means.  </p>
<p>Especially in terms of himself.  </p>
<p>When he goes home, Mia skipping beside him and chattering, he thinks about the entire “simp” encounter. He forgets about it when Mia grabs his hand and drags him until they’re both running down the sidewalk making a thirty-minute walk a fifteen-minute run. He’s laughing and she’s laughing and they’re pushing each other and the only thing that’s running through his head beside the occasional <i>it’s kinda hot out here</i> and <i>her hair is so pretty</i> and <i>I kinda want some ice cream</i> and <i>she did not have to push me that hard, time for revenge</i> is  </p>
<p><i>This is the only thing I want for the rest of my life.</i> </p>
<p>** </p>
<p>He asks Mia if they’re still soulmates when they’re curled up on her couch in her living room while they’re watching old horror movies. She doesn’t really say anything, just snorts, but she moves her foot towards him and buries it underneath his leg and doesn’t argue when he wraps a hand around her skinny ankle.  </p>
<p>He doesn’t bother to hide his smile, because though she didn’t say anything out loud, all he could hear was <i>yes, yes, yes, I'm yours and you’re mine, you idiot, <strong>yes</strong>.</i></p>
<p>He doesn’t think he could be any happier than this after everything that has happened.    </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>He’s in 7th grade and, because Mia was supposed to do her Spanish project two days ago but decided to wait until the last minute, he’s by himself in his house for the first time in weeks. He did all his homework already and he doesn’t really feel like wandering around in his big empty house, not when the memories of his mom and her influence is still sharp despite the years.   </p>
<p>So, of course, he starts playing around with his phone.  </p>
<p>He doesn’t know what he was looking at on Instagram, doesn’t know when he went from laughing at memes and funny fail videos to reading deep Instagram captions paired with weird pictures in shock.  </p>
<p>He thinks about his dad, just for a second, before he exists out of Instagram and unlocks his locked folder to open his Webtoon app.  </p>
<p>The world of <i>Code Adam</i> and <i>Lumine</i> eases his mind, but when his dad calls him on his phone and tells him that he ordered him some fancy pasta dinner for dinner without mentioning coming home, the words seem to punch him in the gut.  </p>
<p>“<i>Some people just aren’t meant to be parents.</i>”  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>He meets her in the last semester of 9th grade. He’s not used to interacting daily with anybody other than Mia (<i>and Lake, now that Mia wants someone other than him, wants her now</i>) and it takes a while for him to relax.  </p>
<p>In the beginning, he used to tense up slightly when he spotted her eyes because, though they were beautiful, they were the wrong <i>shade</i> and <i>shape</i> and <i>wrong wrong wrong</i>.  </p>
<p>He got over it eventually, when she would go to his basketball games, and played just dance with him (<i>and she was awesome, he wouldn’t be surprised if she got famous from it because she was just...talented</i>) and sang stupid songs with him (<i>and it didn’t really surprise him when it turned out she had an awesome voice as well</i>) and it was cool to have another friend other than Mia (<i>and Lake, occasionally, when she didn’t look at him like a piece of meat</i>).  </p>
<p>Everything had been going smoothly and then she asked him on a date.  </p>
<p>And then he ditched her.  </p>
<p>For Mia.  </p>
<p>...Yeah.  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>He texts her because she was a good friend and she ignores his texts and his calls.  </p>
<p>He waits another day before texting her and calling her, leaving her voicemails because he refused to let one of his best friendships die because of his own stupidity (<i>and love for Mia, though that would never be stupid and he would never really regret his decision to dip his date for her</i>) when he could ask for a second chance.  </p>
<p>He gets her the softest yarn and a needle kit from Michaels and a tub of her favorite ice cream (<i>butter pecan</i>) before putting everything in a bag, with the ice cream in another bag tied up so it doesn’t sweat onto the knitting supplies, and biking to her house. It takes a while, but he gets there in around 30 minutes. His legs are aching by the time he rings on the doorbell. He wants to sit down by the time she opens the door, arms crossed, and her deep brown eyes narrowed at him.  </p>
<p>“What do you want, Andrew?”  </p>
<p>Her mahogany brown hair is pulled up and Andrew stares at the way her small hoops shine from the sunlight. His friend is quite beautiful, but he could never think of her in a romantic sense.  </p>
<p>He smiles a little before holding up his bag of apologies.  </p>
<p>“I came to apologize, Gi. I’m sorry. For, like, everything.”  </p>
<p>She quirks an eyebrow, and he’s half-scared that she’s going to close the door, but all she does is lean against the doorway.  </p>
<p>“I mean it, Gi. I really like your company and I really like you but...as a friend. I should’ve told you when you asked me on that date and I’m sorry for dipping you for Mia. You didn’t deserve that.”  </p>
<p>She stares at him for a minute before nodding.  </p>
<p>“I didn’t deserve that and, if you ever do that again, I will feed you poisoned brownies.”  </p>
<p>Andrew just smiles and laughs when Gina grabs the bag of snacks and knitting supplies from him and walks back into the house.  </p>
<p>“Are you coming in or what? Don’t just leave the door open, dude, before I really have to feed you poisoned brownies!”  </p>
<p>Andrew just shakes his head and walks inside, closing the door behind him.  </p>
<p>Later, when they’re throwing popcorn at each other and Gina is attempting show him some basic dance moves, he won’t notice the way his forgotten phone vibrates on Gina’s couch, Mia’s name displayed on the screen.  </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>“So, are you dating her now or something?”   </p>
<p>Andrew groans, before turning over onto his stomach and pulling the covers over his head.  </p>
<p>There’s blessed silence before a small weight jumps on his back and he groans in pain.  </p>
<p>He mumbles something, trying to say <i>It’s too early for this</i> but Mia just keeps jumping on him until he throws her to the side of his bed. He sits up, rubbing his eyes so he can read the clock.  </p>
<p>When he sees the time, he nearly curses.  </p>
<p>He drops back into the bed and listens as Mia laughs at him before settling down beside him.  </p>
<p>“So...?”  </p>
<p>Andrew sighs.  </p>
<p><i>He just wants to go back to sleep and not answer stupid questions. </i> </p>
<p>Mia slaps him on the chest with a hand and he resists the urge to flinch away from the sting. He forgot Mia was heavy-handed.  </p>
<p>“Stop making noises at me and answer my question!”  </p>
<p>He laughs before turning onto his side to face Mia and watches as she mirrors him.  </p>
<p>“I don’t know, <i>Mimi</i>. Are you dating Lake?”  </p>
<p>Instead of the snort or laugh he was expecting to get, Mia averted her eyes, looking over his shoulder towards his wall.  </p>
<p>And Andrew?  </p>
<p>Andrew couldn’t breathe.  </p>
<p>He sits up, brain short circuiting.  </p>
<p>“Mia, <i>what</i>.”  </p>
<p>She doesn’t answer him, but she does slowly sit up and rest against his headboard.  </p>
<p>“You’re dating <i>Lake</i>? The girl who has panic attacks over <i>messing up her makeup during Lunch?</i>”   </p>
<p>Mia’s head snaps towards him and she scowls at him.  </p>
<p>“Hey! Don’t talk about stuff you know nothing about, Andrew.”  </p>
<p>He winces before he can stop his reaction and her face softens. She sighs before looking down at her hands and fidgeting with them. She plays with her nails and Andrew just watches her.  </p>
<p>He just...doesn’t understand.  </p>
<p>“I’m not, like, dating her, but sometimes I do want to like...kiss her? I don’t know.”  </p>
<p>Andrew doesn’t know either.  </p>
<p>He wants to tell her he loves her, that nothing can change that, that <i>hey! Join the bi/pan train</i>, that he won’t leave her and that nothing’s wrong with her but-  </p>
<p><i>He loves her.</i>  </p>
<p>He still tries and then she gives him a hug, getting tears over his wife-beater and he just tugs her closer and ignores the way his heart feelings like it’s tearing itself apart.  </p>
<p>This is okay.  </p>
<p>It has to be.   </p>
<p> </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>When he was younger, his mom and dad had a huge fight over something about their careers. His mom was paranoid, constantly worrying about their surroundings and their finances in case they had to retreat somewhere safe, and it was causing friction in his parent’s relationship.  </p>
<p>He remembers this because that was the week his mom cried every night for a straight week and when she finally stopped, his dad actually smiled at him and called him “son”. It was one of the best days of his life. That night, his mom cooked, and his dad painted and they both danced together, and it was back to the way it was supposed to be.  </p>
<p>That night, his dad would come into his room and sit down on the edge of his bed.  </p>
<p>Andrew would ask if they were okay and his dad would say-  </p>
<p>“We’re fine, son. We’re just going through something right now, but it has nothing to do with you.”  </p>
<p>Andrew didn’t really think it had something to do with him, but something in him relaxed enough for him to tentatively lean against his dad’s back, forehead against his upper shoulders. </p>
<p>“Love hurts, Andrew. Most times it’s a good pain, but sometimes it’s a bad pain. Just know, when you find the one, it’ll be because the good pain makes the bad pain worth it.”  </p>
<p>He turned around, kissed Andrew on the head, and left.  </p>
<p>Andrew was over the moon for two weeks and he completely forgot to ask his dad what “bad pain” was.  </p>
<p>He figured it out all on his own when he met Mia.  </p>
<p>Turns out, his dad was right.  </p>
<p>It was worth it, just to see her smile at him and to see the way her brown eyes sparkled at him underneath the moonlight.  </p>
<p>It has to be.  </p>
<p> </p>
<p>***  </p>
<p>He meets Gina Porter on a sunny day. It’s one of the last few days of basketball games before basketball season is over. He’s in the gym practicing, waiting for the low-level anxiety in his body to finally go away when he sees her. She’s sitting down behind the bleachers, head down in her knees. The only reason he even saw her is because of her tank top contrasting so starkly with the brown wood of the seats.  </p>
<p>He doesn’t really know her, and contrary to popular belief, he’s bad at talking to strangers.   </p>
<p>He finally goes over there when he sees her shoulders shake softly.  </p>
<p>He doesn’t really know what to say when he’s finally close enough to see the way she’s wringing her hands nervously.  </p>
<p>Her book bag is beside her, and there’s a small pride flag hanging from one of the zippers.  </p>
<p>He clears his throat, and the girl jumps. Her head swings to the side, towards him, and her face flushes before a glare takes over.  </p>
<p>“Were you just watching me, you creep?”  </p>
<p>His mouth falls open, but he doesn’t say anything until she picks up her bookbag, sneakers sliding across the gym floor.  </p>
<p>“Wait, are you okay?”  </p>
<p>The girl looks up at him and sneers. She’s not much taller than Mia, he thinks. However, her whole demeanor is different and for a second, he just stands there.  </p>
<p>“Wouldn’t you like to know?”  </p>
<p>She starts to stalk off, but he jogs behind her.  </p>
<p>“Wait, wait! I need a basketball partner!”   </p>
<p>She’s just at the door when the words erupt from his mouth, but she hesitates before turning around and stalking back towards him.  </p>
<p>She eyes him before dropping her bookbag on the first stand at the bleachers and putting her hands on her hips.  </p>
<p>He smirks at her, pleased when she sharply smirks back and steps onto the court.  </p>
<p>“What’s your name?”  </p>
<p>“Why?”  </p>
<p>“So I know what to call the person who’s butt I'm about to kick in basketball.” Her smirk this time is less sharp, more smiley and her shoulders relax from whatever caused her to hide behind the bleachers in the first place.  </p>
<p>“We’ll see about that, Bleacher Girl.”   </p>
<p>She laughs before putting her hand out for him to shake.  </p>
<p>“Gina Porter, <i>not</i> Bleacher Girl. Also known as lowkey overwhelmed new student.”  </p>
<p>He shakes her hand, feeling like something huge has shifted.  </p>
<p>“Andrew Spencer, resident star basketball player, and-”  </p>
<p>He hesitates slightly before finishing his sentence.  </p>
<p>“-lowkey overwhelmed returning student.”    </p>
<p>She eyes him before smiling and bending her knees. He tosses the ball to her, trying to be nice.  </p>
<p>She gave him an undefinable look before shrugging and taking the ball.  </p>
<p>“Ready?”  </p>
<p>She raises an eyebrow and he bends his knees, resting on the balls of his feet to prepare for anything.  </p>
<p>“Ready.”  </p>
<p>The game ends in a tie, laughter, and a new, blooming, friendship.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! feel free to comment anything! </p>
<p>all mistakes are mine, as this is not beta- read. </p>
<p>some headcanons I got from Twitter (andrew &amp; gina being friends, andrew being bisexual &amp; nonbinary) &amp; tumblr (andrew being bisexual) </p>
<p>also, imagine watching the show when you can just watch certain clips, amirite?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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